


Cin Vhetin

by Vanniard



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: (slaps fic) This Baby Can Fit So Much Tragedy, And No One Gave Him One, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Chanel Boots vs SHEIN Vegan Leather Combat Boots, Dark!Din, Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Does the Review Voice in MS Word Count As A Beta?, For the Love of the Manda please read the Major Character Death Tag, Hurt No Comfort, I Am So Sorry I Put You All Through This, I Blame The DinLuke Server, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I did the Unthinkable in regards to Baby Yoda, I hope you have tissues, I mean it about the Major Character Death(s), I'm pretty sure I'm the first person to do this to him? For that I am sorry., Inquisitor!Din Djarin, Its Inquisitor!Din, Lovers To Enemies, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, My First AO3 Post, Please give me all the hate for it, Saying that AGAIN, Sith!Din Djarin, So actually it isn't Sith!Din, Someone said it was, Sorry Not Sorry, This was brought to my attention indirectly and I then searched what an Inquisitor in SW was, Unless the last line is comfort?, how is that not a tag?, no beta we die like stormtroopers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28942560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanniard/pseuds/Vanniard
Summary: “And now I have become the very thing you swore to destroy!”-“I can’t bring myself to hate you for it.”The Sith!Din AU no one will ever want to read twiceCorrection: The Inquisitor!Din AU no one except that one person in the comments will ever want to read twice
Relationships: Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda, Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu | Baby Yoda & Luke Skywalker
Comments: 28
Kudos: 55





	Cin Vhetin

**Author's Note:**

> I will only apologise again in the end notes.
> 
> If you want to see the inspiration behind this madness then you are more than welcome to join the DinLuke community on Discord!  
> Just look for the Dinluke Discord Tumblr and ask the folks over there for a one-time invite link!

**Aboard Imperial Light Cruiser _Rebirth_ , Space between Dathomir and Mandalore**

The hallway was dark. Not dark with the absence of light but rather a suffocating presence rolling through much like a thick fog. It also did not help that the caterwauling alarms had washed the place with a vibrant bloody red. Why it was always that specific shade of red that was used, Luke could never understand. It was too similar a hue to that of the flowers he and Grogu had planted together outside the temple on Yavin-4.  
Thinking about the child he had helped raise and train brought Luke to a halt. His breathing was hitched, and he could feel a subtle burn beginning to build up behind his eyes. He would not think of Grogu now. He will not let himself grieve just yet. Luke was in the middle of following a lead given to him by a rogue imperial officer he had cornered on some skughole planet deep in Hutt Space.

Luke was rather sure that this lead would be another dead end, or a trap set to try and best the great Jedi Skywalker, most probably both. After the incident on Jedha (and didn’t that leave a sour taste in his mouth?), Luke was split up from his Mandalorian friend and had not been able to gain contact with him after fleeing the system. He could only assume that the Imperial Remnant had gotten their hands on him and was dead set on rescuing Din, responsibilities to his academy be damned.

Luke had snuck his way onto this old Empire era ship that was supposed to be holding an asset of extreme importance to the Imps in hopes that it was Din that they were transporting (Luke’s chest warmed slightly remembering when Din had felt comfortable enough to share his name with him). That hope was diminishing the further he travelled through the cruiser. There were not many troopers on patrol, a skeleton crew really, and the sickening, Dark presence he felt put him on edge. Surely there wasn’t another Sith roaming the galaxy?

It was almost too late for Luke to realise this because suddenly he could hear footsteps coming down the hallway in front of him. The steps were light but were distinctly metallic and had an almost sauntering rhythm to the way they fell. Seeing that he had no immediate place to hide, Luke knew he would have to face this unknown adversary. He kept his hood up but drew his lightsaber, igniting it just as a blindingly white armoured figure came into view. In the red light, the figure’s armour seemed to have a crimson glow to it. This contrasted greatly with the poisonous looking shade of green that Luke’s lightsabre had taken on.

The figure stopped upon seeing Luke. They stared at each other in silence for a while and Luke could now get a proper look at the Dark presence in front of him. The armour was a pure, untainted white all over, a short cape of a light material was angled towards the figure’s right and stopped by the waist. What caught Luke’s attention the most though, was the bastardised Mandalorian design of the person’s helmet (the mere thought of a Mandalorian Darksider put Luke on edge). It too was a pure white but where the visor’s dark reflective surface was supposed to be, there was a slit instead revealing sharp Sith-yellow eyes staring straight into Luke’s own pale blue.

  
“You are not supposed to be here.”

  
Growled out the Sith (and Luke could only assume that this person _is_ a Sith with corrupted looking eyes like those), whose voice, like the sharp angles of their armour, had a cutting edge to it but also a sense of melancholy that was not quite taken out by the obvious vocoder that they spoke through. Luke could not help but feel that the voice was familiar to him.

“And you are not supposed to _be_.” Retorts Luke. The Sith’s eyebrows furrow momentarily before reverting to a neutral expression. “I was under the impression that if one could think and interact with those around them then they _are_?” So, the Sith wanted word games. Luke was not in the mood to put up with someone trying to talk him into circles. “Cut the _poodoo_ , Sith. I know what you are, and I am more than equipped to take you down. I am here because I am looking for something dear to me. Do not try to stop me.” The Sith then had the audacity to let out a long-suffering sigh.

“Where has your infamous patience gone, Skywalker?” Luke knew he was now at a disadvantage because the Sith definitely knew him, but mind, most people knew who Luke Skywalker was these days. “You seem to know me, but I can’t recall ever meeting you.”

The Sith let out a short bark of laughter that crackled out from the vocoder. “You offend me, and here I thought the only person I willingly let see my face would recognise me!” Luke startled a bit at that. “I have no idea what you are talking about Sith, reveal yourself so that I may face my opponent on fair grounds.” The Sith brought up a white-gloved hand to their heart in fake hurt. “Maybe I should _enlighten_ you then, Luke.”

The Sith reaches for the lightsabre attached to their belt (and why did Luke not look for that first?) and ignites it.

  
Luke feels an uprising of rage within him.

  
“WHERE IS HE?” Screams Luke, “WHERE IS DIN DJARIN?” Because in front of Luke, in their left hand, the Sith is holding the Darksabre.

The Sith gives a frustrated growl. “Have you really gotten that thick since I last saw you, Luke?” Instead of answering, Luke moves into a more defensive position, holding his lightsabre out in front of him with both hands. The Sith does not move the Darksabre from the position they are holding it in and reach up with their right hand to lift off the helmet on their head. Luke audibly chokes when he sees the Sith’s face.

Here he was, face covered in burn scars and the moustache Luke had come to adore was sitting in rough patches under his slightly crooked nose. Against all reason, Din Djarin was standing in front of Luke with a pained look on his face (and the eyes, no longer were they a soulful caff brown - just a blazing, hateful yellow). “Din?” Luke’s voice cracked far more than he liked to admit.

“You have no right to call me that anymore.” 

Luke’s mind was working overtime trying to understand _what? how? when? **why?!**_ “What do you mean, Din? I’ve been looking all over the galaxy for you! Why didn’t you tell me where you were? Why are you here? What happened to you?” The Sith, Din, glared at Luke. “Oh, _cyar’ika_ , it is you that happened to me!” Luke could hear the ice behind the endearment that used to melt his heart. Din did not wait for a reply.

“I should never have let Grogu call for you on that Ka’ra damned rock on Tython. I should never have let you take him away from me on Gideon’s ship and I should never have gone looking for you afterwards! It is because of you that this has happened.” Din’s breath rattled and he gave out an aborted cough before taking in a deep breath. He gave Luke one more harsh look before he put his helmet back on.

Luke now understands why the vocoder sounded so rough and course. His mind flares with a memory of helplessness and heartbreak and, ‘ _just for once let me look at you with my own eyes_.’

Luke does not yet know how to respond to what Din has told him, nothing is making sense at the moment. “Din, I- I don’t understand. How is it my fault?’” Luke feels his eyes burning again. He wants to scream. He wants to cry. He wants to take Din away from this horrid ship and forget everything that has happened in the past year. Luke can’t see Din’s full facial expression under the helmet (what happened to the unpainted beskar that guided Luke to him in large crowds? The armour that glinted and glowed next to the campfire on Yavin-4?) but with the way his eyes are pulled, he assumes Din is sneering.

“It's because of you that we walked right into the trap on Jedha! You knew that the Empire had remaining control there, but you _had_ to go to that ruin of a temple.” Din shifted on his feet, such a small movement but Luke knew what it meant. There was going to be a fight and he would not be able to avoid it.

“Do you know what happened after you fled? After I told you and Grogu to leave? To leave me and that we would meet up in the system over?” Luke swallowed; his mouth tasted bitter. “Grogu came back, he thought he would be better off sticking with me than leaving with you. Why did you not make sure he stayed with you, Luke?” “I-,” began Luke but Din cut him off with a hiss. “I got distracted Luke, and they took me. They took me to their ship, and you know what they did? Obviously, you do, you would have felt it.” There was a heavy pause. “They killed him, Luke. They killed my little boy in front of me.”

Luke knew what he was talking about. He had stopped running at one point while making his way back to their ship with Grogu to deal with some stray troopers and when he went to go check on Grogu where he had hidden him, well, the child had all but disappeared. Luke had felt such overwhelming fear at that moment. He tried looking for the child, he really did. Luke’s search came to a stop when a powerful wave of fear came through the force bond he held with Grogu. Luke tried to reach out and pinpoint where Grogu was but all he received was a clear impression of _“go”_ and _“leave”_ from the child. Before Luke could do anything to object to that, he heard a ship taking off and leaving the atmosphere and with it the sun bright force signature of his Padawan.

It was not long after that when Luke had reached his x-wing and was about to leave the atmosphere to pursue the Imperial ship that he felt it. At first, it just felt like an absence of presence in the force, but then came the pain. Luke had all but lost control of his x-wing and had to make a rough landing on the planet again. He does not remember climbing out of the cockpit, but he does remember the all-consuming pain of _gone, gone, gone_. It had been hours before he could regain some semblance of control over himself and call his sister for a pick-up. Grogu was dead. The child who Luke had come to love as a son and the child who should have had centuries still ahead of him was dead.

After that, he had thrown himself into looking for Din. He would have felt it if Din had died. Contrary to popular belief, Din was not as force null as a rock and Luke could feel his presence much more strongly than others.  
Luke breathed in deeply and hoped that his voice would not shake when he spoke. “Did you not think I looked for him? I was a mess. I looked everywhere and when I felt him get captured, I went right back to my ship to pursue! I tried Din, and I failed. I tried.” Luke could see Din’s shoulders tense. “What was that saying you told me you heard from Yoda? Do or do not, there is no try? You say you tried, but you did nothing.”

That hurt in ways Luke did not want to think about. “You know what happened afterwards, Luke?” Din straightened himself and took a few steps forward. Luke felt himself step back one and saw that Din noticed, a sick satisfaction came rolling off him. “They broke me, Luke. I was broken and then they fixed me. You want to know how? Baptism by fire I suppose. I became stronger than I ever was and when they finally gave me back my armour I thought, ’why not go further’? This could be my new clean slate. My new _Cin Vhetin_.” Din chuckled. “So, I melted my armour down and I revived myself from that dead man on Jedha. It looks just grand don’t you think? Cin Vhetin, virgin snow.”

Luke understood that it was not often a Sith garbed themselves in something so _light_. The irony of it was not lost. “One thing I do have to thank you for though is telling me that I was Force Sensitive. Without that information, I would not have risen the ranks as I have. It’s only natural, I suppose, for the Empire to bow before the Sith.”  
Luke was desperately trying to find a way to talk Din out of this. He did not want another person in his life to suffer from the chains of the Dark Side. “Din, you don’t have to be this. Adhering to the Dark Side will only bring you suffering in future. Please come back to me.” That last part was more desperate than anything else Luke had pleaded for in his known life. Din did not say anything; he attacked.

Luke was quick to block the blow from the Darksabre coming towards him. “Don’t do this to me, Din!” Still, Din did not reply. They continued moving around the hallway, Din pushing forward and forward while Luke was pushed back and back. Din on the offensive and Luke stalwart in his position of defence, not wanting to hurt Din. After a rather violent push back, Din spoke again. “There was an interesting thing I learnt about using the Darkside. Why take from the Force around you when you can so easily take it away yourself from your opponent? It’s time that I test that.”

Din held his right hand out in Luke’s direction and clasped his hand into a tight fist. Upon doing so, Luke felt something in him snap and begin to pull away. Luke collapsed onto one knee and put a hand to his chest. He felt so, so _empty_. Luke gasped and scrabbled back up to a stand and brought his lightsabre back into a defensive position. Din cackled. “I’m sad to say that is about the extent of my training in the Force. I’m just not meant to be proficient in using it, just in taking it away.” Din rushed at Luke again and brought the Darksabre down. Luke brought his own ‘sabre up to block it into an almost comically overdone stalemate. Luke could not help but notice the contrast of the swirling void black and white of the Darksabre against his own green one.

“And now I have become the very thing you swore to destroy!” Din screamed hysterically as he pushed down with the Darksabre. Luke was struggling to push him away. He quickly deactivated his lightsabre and spun away before Din’s sabre could hit him.

“I can’t bring myself to hate you for it.” Luke meant it. As much as he hated himself for letting this happen, he could understand why Din fell as hard and fast as he did. Between losing a spouse and a child, most would say the latter was what brought the most pain and anger and heartbreak. Din faltered for a second before rushing at him with a yell. This fight was going to end soon.

While Luke was focused on not letting the Darksabre get close he did not see Din kick at his unprotected knees. Luke felt something crack under the weight of Din’s metal boot as well as a loss of weight on his right arm. Luke glances over to see that Din has cut through his prosthetic and that his lightsabre has gone flying down the hallway.

In the time it took for Luke to fall to the ground, Din was already kneeling over him. Sometime during the fight, his helmet had come off and Luke could see all the scars on his face up close. Din stared at him with such hate and longing it made Luke’s head spin more than it already was. He would not be leaving this ship.

“When I made my _beskar’gam be’cin’vhetin_ , I thought I would fully be able to leave my previous life behind me. I thought I would be able to forget about the child I lost and the love of my life that led me to ruin, but with you still breathing I knew that would not be.” Luke really was crying now. He brought this upon himself. “I’m sorry, Din, I’m so sorry.”

“If ‘sorry’ was a weapon, you’d have died the moment you lifted it to defend yourself.” Din leans in closer to Luke’s face. _“Bic cuyir gar ca'nara at taabir chaaj'yc be'chaaj, cyar’ika.”_ Din closes the remaining gap between him and Luke with a light kiss to the lips. It makes Luke freeze and burns all over at the same time. Luke can distantly hear a ‘sabre igniting and feels the burn in his body envelope his heart ten-fold.

  
“I forgive you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Mando'a Translations:  
> \- cyar’ika (term of endearment: sweetheart or darling)  
> \- Cin Vhetin (fresh start, a clean slate - lit. white field, virgin snow - a term indicating the erasing of a person's past when they become Mandalorian, and that they will only be judged by what they do from that point onwards)  
> -beskar’gam be’cin’vhetin (armour of untouched snow - Din remakes his armour and symbolically calls it a clean slate)  
> -Bic cuyir gar ca'nara at taabir chaaj'yc be'chaaj, cyar’ika (It is your time to march far away - It is time for you to die)
> 
> Spotify Playlist Link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5miQYzV1oRcVQn741KdQAd?si=eWpcBECXQvak5YXtuFSFSw
> 
> If I did not apologise enough in the tags then I will apologise here again. I know I am probably the first person to kill off Baby Yoda in a fic (and if another person has done it please point me in their direction so that I can hit them. That was not fun to do). And to completely satisfy my blood lust it seems I have also killed off Luke. Whoops?
> 
> Please comment and review! I want to hear your tears. :)


End file.
